Lisa Hannigan 25/11/09

I only recently started listening to Lisa Hannigan so I wasn't overly familiar with the songs. In any case she introduced a number of them as new songs but the music was accessible straight away and it was satisfyingly layered and tight with Lisa's expressive vocal style the main focal point of the band. It reminded me of a cross between Kate Bush and Clannad. The fiddle player was very good without being showy at all but all the musicians played their part. There was a wide variety of instruments used including a bellows-based accordion style keyboard and various xylophones and banjos as well as a trumpet over and above the standard double bass, keyboards, guitar and drums. Keyboards and guitar was mostly played by Kevin Glass who also did the support act as a singer/songwriter. He was earnest and listenable to with a strong voice. Whilst the main LH performance seemed to be self written songs whose titles I do not know, the encore featured two more familiar songs. First she did the traditional "Blow the wind Southerly" accompanied by the fiddle. Then the band did a rousing version of "Personal Jesus" which showed off both the quiet vocal aspect and also the band at full tilt.